Bring Me Back to Life
by Apollo's Girl 319
Summary: A car accident bring the Glee kids together.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** All belongs to Ryan Murphy and other such powers that be who true legal ownership of Glee.

**Author's Note:** This idea has been running in my head for a while. If enough people are interested, I will continue the story. Set Post-Sectionals.

* * *

They all stood there watching the clock slowly ticking away. Images of what happened an hour ago slowly replaying in their minds.

They were all leaving glee practice – each going their separate way home. She was pulling out of the school parking lot when a speeding car ran into her blue Prius. The sound echoed throughout the parking lot then a deafening silence. No one moved and it seemed that time stood still. Then all at once it came rushing back.

Puck had jumped out of his truck rushing over to the car, followed closely by Finn and Mike. Tina and Quinn had stood their transfixed horror coming over their faces. Mercedes started to run over pulling out her phone, trying with her unsteady fingers to call 911. Artie turned around towards the school to find Mr. Shue or any other adult. Santana quickly followed him, pushing him faster than he could wheel. Kurt, Brittany and Matt also began running towards the wreckage. All had one thought in their mind, "Is Rachel ok?"

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Rachel stopped at the entrance to school and looked both ways on the main street when she pulled out. She was humming the latest song they had sung in glee when out of the corner of her eye she saw the vehicle coming towards her. Her instinct was to press her foot on the brake but before she could do anything she felt a huge push.

Then nothing but darkness and a numbing pain.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

He couldn't think of anything other except that he needed to get there as soon as he could. Puck ran so fast to the car and practically slid on the gravel to the driver's side door. His gut wrenched as he saw how much the other car had punched into that side, the impact having pushed the car a couple of feet from the perpetrator.

"Rachel?" He called out, panic lacing his voice. Looking in, he saw that she was still in her seat, blood gushing down her face, the side airbag deployed, the glass shattered. "Rachel?"

Nothing but the sound of crunching glass as the others got to his side. He approached her, knowing that he shouldn't move until the paramedics arrived. He gently touched her face, trying to find some evidence of life.

"Is she…" Finn tried to ask, but couldn't finish. Puck's hand felt the warmth of her skin and ran a finger gently across her face to see if she would have any reaction. He stopped briefly above her lips.

"I think she's still breathing." They all let out a breath that none knew they were holding.

"We need to get her out." Mike started to say. Puck shook his head.

"No! We-we need to wait until the paramedics get here… We could do more damage if we move her ourselves. We should try to stop the bleeding at least…" He tried to keep his emotions in check. Seeing her this way was scaring him. Finn handed Puck his outer shirt to use on Rachel. He pressed it on the gash that was on her forehead.

"Ambulance is on the way." Mercedes called out as tears started to fall at the sight of Rachel.

Kurt, Brittany and Matt had stopped when they got to the cars. Seeing Mike, Finn and Puck trying to help Rachel they went to check on the other driver. The man was slumped over the air bag that had deployed. They opened the door, careful not to move him and checked to see if he was alive and found him breathing. They couldn't see where the bleeding was coming from and were too afraid to move him. Both this man and Rachel seemed to be out cold.

Within minutes, in what seemed like an eternity they heard the sirens coming. They all froze as the paramedics and the cops went to work. All the kids were pushed aside as they watched in silence. Soon they were joined by a shocked Mr. Schue, Tina, Quinn, Santana and Artie. One of the cops tried to talk to them, but he wasn't able to get many coherent answers as they all just wanted to know if Rachel would be ok.

"They are doing everything they can for her." He recited, everyone knowing that he couldn't truly answer the question. "They are going to take her to Lima General Hospital."

Mr. Schue nodded at the officer, "Can I ride with her? I'm her teacher."

The officer nodded as they watched her being put into the ambulance. Mr. Schue looked at his students, trying to find some way to ease the pain etched in each of their faces, but couldn't.

A couple of them nodded and all began to make their way to the cars. Puck waited until he couldn't see Rachel anymore before he turned, even then it was Quinn and Finn who moved him along. In that moment, despite all the things that happened between them they were bound together.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** My apologies for such a long time before an update - unfortunately life and a major case of writer's block got in the way. Hopefully this summer I will be able to update a bit more. Please review!

* * *

None of them knew what to say as they waited. Mr. Shue had been at the nurses station trying to fill out paperwork and get in touch with Rachel's parents. They were spread around two of the rows. Quinn was sitting in between Puck and Finn, across from them were Santana and Brittany. On the floor were Mike and Matt, leaning against the cheerleader's chairs. Artie was at the end of the row, with Tina leaning against him, beside Finn. Kurt and Mercedes were next to Brittany.

Every time someone came in and out of the waiting room, they all had jerked up in hopes of hearing more news, but they were all left in disappointment. The wait seemed forever, seeming to pickup when her father's finally arrived, but only to slow down again as they waited for more information.

"I can't stand this!" muttered Mercedes. "Shouldn't they be telling us something?"

"They are in surgery." Brittany answered, "We don't want them to leave in the middle." Santana held on to her hand, patting assuredly.

"Mercedes, I know the wait is hard on all of us, but we'll know something soon." Mr. Shue replied.

Mercedes nodded but still looked frustrated. Kurt side hugged her and rested his head on her shoulder but said nothing – his face sullen.

"Plus it's Rachel!" Artie stated. "She'll fight with everything she has. She has a Tony and a Grammy to win."

A few chuckled at Artie's optimism, but it was short lived. Rachel's dads had given a small nod of approval to Artie's statement, but said nothing else. Time continued in silence until the surgeon walked in. "Mr. Berry's?"

The fathers stood up as the surgeon motioned them over, but quickly stated, "We'll end up telling them too, so might as well state it now."

The surgeon nodded, "Rachel has sustained several broken bones – one in the left arm and two breaks in the left leg, one her right. Fortunately, she did not seem to fracture any ribs." Everyone looked somewhat relieved by the news but seemed to sense there was more than the doctor wasn't telling. "However, she has sustained a concussion with several cuts that needed stitching. There doesn't seem to be any swelling of the brain, but she is still unconscious. She is in a coma."

"Will she wake up?" One of her fathers asked.

"We won't know for sure until she does." The doctor replied truthfully.

"Can we see her?" Brittany asked. Everyone looked more intently at the doctor.

"Her father's can go see her first – but we can't let more than two people in at a time. We're keeping her in the ICU. If they are ok with it you all can go in and visit in a little bit."

The glee kids nodded and went to sit back down as the Rachel's fathers started to follow the doctor. "We'll let you up in a little bit." One of them said as they walked out.

* * *

Her fathers waited hesitantly by her bed afraid of doing something that might hurt her. They hadn't felt this nervous since the first day they met her. She was so still and seemed so much smaller then what they were used to seeing. The beeping of the machines and her steady breaths were small assurances that she was ok – but both knew they wouldn't be breathing easy until she was awake from this coma. Slowly they made their way to her side each gently taking a hand in theirs.

Nothing changed but holding her hand brought a small measure of comfort to them. Richard Berry eventually made his way out of the room needing to get away for a bit. He watched as Steven still held on to their daughter's hand tightly, murmuring away at her. Richard let out a small smile at the trait that Rachel inherited from him. Although they joked about not knowing which one was the biological father, they always knew it was Steven.

Richard Berry was not a man of many words. He was more of a man of presence. So he stood by the door watching the two loves of his life, memories of his baby girl filtered through his mind.

_

* * *

_

They watched as she came into the world screaming loudly she was here. Richard held onto Shelby's hand and the other hand clasped with Steven's. He watched in awe as the nurses cleaned her up and the doctor declared she was healthy. They brought her over waiting to see who would hold her first. With tearful eyes, Shelby nodded towards them and without hesitation Steven looked towards Richard. He felt his breath catch as they gently placed her in his arms, her cries ceasing the moment he touched her. She was so tiny and precious that he knew he would feel no greater love.

* * *

_Three nights of constant fussing, crying and no sleep, Rachel didn't seem consolable. Nothing they did seem to calm her down – diapers, baths, rocking, feedings and singing – nothing. He was pacing with her as he walked back and forth in her room. Making promises of giving her anything she wanted if she would just go to sleep or stop crying. _

"_Come on baby girl, please for your dad, just shh…" He kept rocking her as she continued to cry. "I'll give you a pony, a doll, anything just please… Man do you have the lungs of an opera singer, with pipes like that you'll be a star." He muttered and then it seemed Rachel stopped. _

_Her little face red and wet, looked at him. He stared at her wide-eyed wondering if this was a momentary thing before she went back to screaming, but her eyes just looked into his with something like a question. "You want to be a little star?"_

_Her nose seemed to scrunch and he thought she was about to wail again, "A big star?" Her face lit up and a soft coo came out. He grinned, "My baby's going to be a bright, shining star." He watched as she gave another baby coo then a big yawn with her eyes closing. Richard rocked her gently whispering how she was his star._

_

* * *

_

She was in a bright yellow dress dancing around the front porch singing about sunny days. Her two pigtails flying around as she smiled at Steven and him on the porch swing. Her infectious smile spreading warmth to their hearts.

* * *

_He would stand at the kitchen door watching his husband and daughter debate the merits of one actor over another in their imaginary casting of some movie. The two would talk like dictionaries that threw up thesauruses and each one getting more and more red in the face. He couldn't help but grin as they would get louder until they couldn't breathe and would just stare at each other. At which point he would just yell out "Barbera Streistand should play it" and earn two very pointed Jewish glares. He would shrug and they would both roll their eyes at each other and sit down on the couch with their arms around each other and ignore him. He wouldn't have it any other way._

_

* * *

_

Even though she hated it and couldn't really follow, Rachel would always sit and watch football with him. She would cheer with him, throw a dramatic tantrum if he was upset with a play and best of all just sit curled up with him as he watched the sports recap. It was their thing.

* * *

_He still checks up on her when she sleeps, when he can't. Always a whisper of how she's his star and a kiss to forehead._

* * *

As he stood at the door and the memories filtered throught, tears began to fall as he prayed his star would be ok.

**

* * *

**

Author's Note:

Please review! Hopefully another chapter will be up in a week or so. It's written in draft form, just need some edits. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **My apologies for such a long time for a new update. Unfortunately, life and a bit of writer's block has kept me away. I'm hoping to put a new chapter up again in the next couple of weeks, but hopefully it won't be as long as a wait as last time. Also, while this is a Puckleberry fic - it will focus on Rachel's relationship with the others. It's AU from the season 2.

Many thanks to my reviewers and appreciation for your patience! Enjoy...

* * *

No one wanted to leave the waiting room, afraid if they stepped out they would miss news about Rachel. It had been an hour since they heard about Rachel's coma and her father's had left to be with her. Mr. Schue tried to get the kids home to rest but to no avail as they wouldn't leave.

While the kids were talking and supporting one another, Puck had stayed rather stoically in his seat. The images of Rachel in the car happy and singing to bloody and unconscious kept replaying in his head over and over. He just couldn't stop thinking about it. As much as he tried he just felt that horrible fear at the pit of his stomach.

Finn had been watching his friend/enemy for the past hour. They had never really patched things up but at that moment at the crash he knew this was deeply affecting Puck – not that it wasn't affecting others. However, he knew that Puck wouldn't be able to get through losing someone else in his life. While they were on the outs, they were still there for one another in a way. He got up and moved towards him as he let Quinn's hand go. She looked up and just gave a slight understanding nod.

He and Rachel had started to date at the end of Regionals, however, it didn't quite work out. As summer hit and they spent their time together it was quickly more apparent how different they were and that it led to more fights and frustrations neither of them were willing to admit. When the fact that he slept with Santana came out, it led to their break-up. They still were attracted to one another but had agreed that for now being friends was all they could manage.

* * *

Puck felt the hand on his shoulder but made no move to acknowledge it. He just continued to stare in front of him as he felt the presence of his former best friend. When he felt the reassuring squeeze and the murmured, "She's not going to leave us," from Finn, he let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and brought his head down into his hands. Finn said nothing else and just kept his hand on Puck's shoulder squeezing it now and then – neither needed to say anything else.

* * *

Quinn watched her two exes with tears in her eyes and a sad smile. As much drama as they all went through last year she was glad they were there for one another. Even though everyone was focused on the drama of the couples – Quinn always felt the greatest tragedy was the break-up of the boys' friendship. Not that her heart wasn't shattered by Finn's break-up, but she knew that those two needed each other in a way that no girl would ever be able to fill.

She watched the two silently support each other and let herself think back to Rachel. The two were still pretty unfriendly to one another, but the thought of Rachel not being there put a fear in Quinn she didn't know could be so painful. She never really could forgive Rachel, even though she was secretly glad that Rachel had told Finn, but it seemed conditioned in her to dislike the girl. It was that same condition that didn't allow her to imagine a life without Rachel in it. It was like Rachel was meant to be a thorn in her side – one who annoyed her but at the same time was always there for you. She bit her lip praying that Rachel would wake-up and be ok, and she kept repeating it over and over in hopes that God would listen.

* * *

Richard Berry walked to the waiting room seeing all the Glee kids waiting. They all stopped and turned to him. He recognized the look of questions, fear concern etched in each of them. He cleared his throat, "If you want to see her, the doctors said you could - just not too many at a time." He knew they had to see she was ok before they could even contemplate taking another step. All of them nodded and they all began to figure out who would go first.

Mr. Schue and Ms. Pilsbury said they would go first. Richard indicated the room she was in letting them know Steven was with her. They nodded and said they would be back. Richard turned to the kids and thanked them for being there and that Rachel would be so grateful as well. Then he left to return to his husband.

"Who should go next?" Kurt asked. "Puck?"

He had noticed that Puck and Finn were pretty shaken up. Puck looked up, his eyes wet but no one said anything about it. He shook his head, "No, I'll go last," his voice a hoarse whisper. The others nodded seeming to understand. "We'll go." Mike said pointing to himself and Matt. "We'll go with you." Santana and Brittany said together.

"I'll go with Quinn." Mercedes said as she put her arms around her former house guest. Quinn gave her a grateful smile. Kurt looked between Tina and Artie to Finn. Finn looked back at Puck and knew that he would probably want go in alone, but didn't know if he would need the support at the same time.

"I'll go with Tina and Artie." Kurt said noticing the way Finn kept looking at Puck. They all nodded, seemingly all glad there was something could decide and at the same time do for Rachel.

For the first time that night, everyone seemed to breathe a bit easier.


End file.
